Democrats compete for four Municipal Council seats in Norristown primary

NORRISTOWN ­­— Five Democratic candidates are vying for two at-large Municipal Council seats in the May 21 primary, and two challengers are hoping to unseat incumbents in Wards 1 and 3. No Republicans are running in the Norristown primaries, making it all but certain the winners of the Democratic primaries will go on to victory in November.

At-large candidate Mao Howell, 37, has lived in Norristown his entire life. He attended Norristown Area High School for two years and graduated from Plymouth Whitemarsh High School in 1995. Howell owns and runs D&M’s Auto Tags and Notary Service on West Marshall Street.

“I’m campaigning on the issues of recreation for youth and job creation in Norristown,” Howell said. “I want to make a difference for the Norristown community.”

Howell, treasurer for Norristown Clubs United and the vice president for the Norristown chapter of the Wyde Bodi Auto Club, said he believes the “voice of the community” should influence the decisions made by Norristown Council.

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Howell has scheduled an election fundraiser for 3-8 p.m. April 13 at 1033 Grange St., Norristown. He is also selling $10 T-shirts to raise money for his campaign with the slogan “If it doesn’t make community sense, it doesn’t make sense at all” on the front.

Olivia Brady served on council from 2000 to 2005, representing Ward 2. She served as council president in 2003 and is currently the assistant director of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee.

“I resigned in 2005 from council to run for state representative in the 150th District,” Brady said. “The three things I am focusing on are neighborhood stabilization, improving public safety and bringing jobs back to Norristown. I have a three-tiered approach. Our neighborhoods need to be stabilized by addressing the issue of absentee landlords and making sure the homes are maintained appropriately. Once neighborhoods are stabilized, then public safety can be improved. We need to focus on bringing jobs back. I would like to see a partnership with the community college to provide work skills training.”

Brady criticized the timing of the candidate search for a new police chief.

“The hiring of the police chief should have started when we knew the police chief was retiring,” she said. “It started too late.”

Brady said she wanted to build a more transparent and efficient government in Norristown.

“People need to know what is happening in the neighborhoods,” she said. “Our website needs to be updated more frequently. We need to show residents where their tax dollars go in an easy, visual way like a pie chart.”

Incumbent at-large Councilman Marlon Millner is running for a second, four-year term on council.

“I’m running again because I believe strongly there is more work to be done,” Millner said, “that my voice is needed, and my desire to fight for residents’ concerns is essential to making Norristown government work for more people.”

Millner has worked with community leaders and Norristown police to confront youth violence so that Norristown can continue to attract new residents and businesses who accept Norristown’s value proposition, he said in a press release.

He has been involved in the search for the next police chief of Norristown.

“Residents are in agreement they want the very best police chief we can hire. And concerns about diversity, working across cultural contexts, community-police relations, and crime-fighting competency are front and center,” Millner said, “as I work with residents to find the best person to lead our men and women who protect and serve.”

Millner is a freelance communications professional. He is currently leading an awareness campaign to bridge the digital divide in Philadelphia with more than 50 nonprofit organizations. He is also a Christian minister serving a congregation in Willow Grove as pastor.

Sue Soriano, 48, has worked as a database administrator. She is a founding member of the Norristown Community and Cops Coalition Building Team and a member of the Greater Norristown Hispanic Business Association (GNHBA), the Montgomery County Coalition for Women and Families, the West End Association, HopeWorx Inc., Circle Lodge and NAMI. She is the president of Hope Worx and vice president of Circle Lodge and the GNHBA. Soriano has lived in Norristown for six years.

“I am tired of the degradation of the community caused by crimes in our neighborhoods,” Soriano said. “We need to improve public safety. We want a safer community.”

“Our organization is called Team Transformation. We are raising money together. A fundraiser will be scheduled in April,” Soriano said. “Our group is campaigning for economic growth, public safety and neighborhood revitalization. We want to market Norristown as a welcoming place and for people to shop here.”

Soriano said she would use her relationship with the police department and the community to improve communication and enhance public safety.

Derrick Perry, 38, is a material mover at Arcelor Mittal Steel of Conshohocken. He has resided in Norristown his entire life. He graduated from Norristown Area High School in 1994 and earned a degree in communications at Rider University in 1998. He is a member of Tabernacle Deliverance Church and the 1 Love Club of Norristown.

“I’m a Norristown native, and change needs to be done. We are clueless about what happens here,” Perry said. “We need more youth activities to get some of them off the street. They need something to do. When I grew up I was an athlete. I grew up with the Carver Center. There used to be a YMCA here. We just don’t have enough things for youth to do here.”

A fundraiser and campaign kickoff was held at the Bahn Mi Bar & Bistro for Perry Wednesday night.

“I am campaigning with Fisher Sanders,” he said. “Our slogan is ‘Norristown natives for change’ because we are both natives and we have been here our whole lives.”

Perry said he would like to use the diverse ethnic groups in Norristown to help improve it.

“We should have smart development here because Norristown is the mecca of Montgomery County. There should be businesses running to Norristown,” he said. “The question is, How do we keep the businesses we have and attract new business? We have a lot of empty buildings. We can do better.”

In Ward 3, Democrat Eli Nogueda is challenging incumbent Councilwoman Linda Christian for her seat. Nogueda has owned the Adelitas Market on West Marshall Street for the past 12 years. He has resided in Norristown for more than 24 years, he said.

He is a member of the Greater Norristown Hispanic Business Association and has been president of the association board for the past year. He has been a member of the pastor’s council at St. Francis of Assisi Church for three years.

“As a business owner I have been interacting with council more often. There isn’t currently an Hispanic member of council,” Nogueda said. “I would bring ideas for economic growth in Norristown.

“Businesses are struggling in Norristown. West Marshall Street is becoming more business-friendly, but we need to attract more customers to Norristown. We’re here to work together. I am running for the entire community of Norristown. I would like to work on the issues of residents and meet their needs.”

Nogueda challenged the filing of Christian’s financial interest statement for the primary. The challenge was upheld by Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Del Ricci on March 25, and Christian’s name was removed from the primary election ballot.

The councilwoman will campaign as a write-in candidate, she said. Christian registered for the Ward 3 primary election, but missed the filing deadline for her financial statement at Municipal Hall.

“It was filed on time with voter services at Montgomery County, but I forgot to leave a copy at Municipal Hall,” Christian said, “so the challenge was for the copy at Municipal Hall. I am going to run as a write-in candidate. I want to do a write-in campaign because my representation for the Third District has always been full steam ahead. I understand and advocate for my constituents’ interests. Being knocked off the ballot by a technicality is no reason to give up fighting for those interests.”

Christian has lived in Norristown for 19 years and has worked in accounting in the past. She currently serves on the public safety and code enforcement committees of council. She served as council president in 2011.

“There is no single issue this year,” she said. “I focus on quality of life and sensible development.”

In Ward 1, incumbent Councilwoman Mimi DeSouza is being challenged by Democrat Sonya Fisher Sanders for the council seat.

DeSouza was elected in 2011 to finish Mila Hayes’ four-year term. DeSouza is a clinical director at Merck & Co. in North Wales. She has resided in Norristown for nine years.

“For the last two years I have been focused on code enforcement and housing issues. One thing I recognized is that the code department had efficiency issues,” DeSouza said. “The database was antiquated. We needed a third-party inspection company that was more competitive with pricing and more efficient. They were hired in January 2012. A new software program has been installed that combines the two data bases of information.”

DeSouza said she wants to use her background in business to help find a new police chief and municipal administrator.

“It is really critical that people understand we have to be very professional about these hires,” she said. “Picking someone who is not right for the position does not move us forward.”

DeSouza said it was important for council to save money in each municipal department.

“I want to continue finding better ways to make the departments more efficient,” she said. “We are working to improve the way we get small businesses into Norristown. These are the kind of things that will spur our economic growth.”

Fisher Sanders, 45, is a project administrator at the Vanguard Group in Malvern. She has lived in Norristown all her life.

She is a member of Charitable Housewives, a commissioner and coach for Plymouth Junior ABA and co-founder of Generation Next.

“I’m an active member in the community,” she said. “I work closely with youth coaching basketball and with Junior Achievement at the elementary schools in the Norristown Area School District.”

Fisher Sanders is campaigning to improve public safety, youth participation and safety, and home ownership in Norristown.

“I want the new police chief to become active in the community and for residents to feel a sense of safety,” she said. “Police officers should be more visible in the neighborhoods to discourage crime.”

Fisher Sanders wants to increase the number of youth programs. “In the past there was a Youth Corps in Norristown,” she said. “I want some of these programs returned to Norristown.”

Fisher Sanders said that home ownership is at 59 percent of rental properties in Norristown.

“This is a problem because the rental properties are rented to lower-income families. It is a problem for homeowners who value their homes because the neighborhood begins to lose its (real estate) value,” she said.

Fisher Sanders wants to encourage home ownership by creating a program to hold landlords responsible for paying their real estate taxes.

Both Council President Gary Simpson and Council Vice President William Caldwell will continue serving on council until the end of 2015. At-large Councilman Dwayne Royster announced on March 20 that he would resign from council effective on April 5. That gave the current council until May 5 to appoint a replacement, who will serve until the Nov. 5 general election. A candidate elected in the special election for the Norristown council seat will finish Royster’s four-year term.

At-large Councilwoman Cathy Lawrence is finishing her second term on council this year and cannot seek re-election for a third term.